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Ozzy Wei teaches on Luke 12:22-34, explaining Jesus' three reasons not to worry: life is more than possessions, God cares for birds and grass, and worry doesn't add to life. The message encourages believers to seek God's kingdom first and trust His provision as the cure to anxiety.
Various midweek classes on wednesday nights
A couple of weeks ago, we covered the cure to busyness, and Jesus is now going to cover the subject of anxiety. So in Jesus's ministry, he doesn't cover just all of these different topics, and they aren't just a bunch of self-help sermons. But Jesus is dealing with real-world issues. And in a world like this that's skeptical of religion and Christianity, we're reminded in these teachings that Jesus was a real person, and that his teachings are really claims about truth. So when we say we're a Christian or we're a follower of Jesus, we're believing what he says about life. That is a very baseline view of faith in Jesus. So the culture that we're in struggles with anxiety. It's struggled with anxiety ever since the world's been around, really since the fall. And so Jesus is coming in, and he's not avoiding that. So this isn't some sort of religion on the side, but a true religion is going to address this head-on and address it adequately. And I believe, and I'm sure many of you believe that Jesus does. So we're in Luke 12, verses 22 to 34. Start at your tables and read the passage together. Have somebody read it out loud. Luke 12, 22 to 34. And then talk about what parts of the passage stand out to you. Take a few minutes, and then we'll break it down together. All right, guys. Let's go ahead and wrap up those conversations. Let's wrap up those conversations, and then we'll dive in here. Hey, so I want to encourage you. I love all the conversations here. The reason that we discussed God's Word together at the beginning is when you read God's Word, it's so easy to read it all and then have every single word flash before you without giving it a thought. And so what we're doing here is an exercise of, hey, what stood out to you? Oh, I didn't see that word when I read it. Oh, I didn't realize that what you're walking through right now, that part of the verse really meant a lot to you. And so when you're reading the Bible in the morning or in the evening or during a lunch break, it's a good question to ask, what stands out to me about this passage? And I find that there's usually one thing that the Lord wants to say, one main thing that's like a tidbit for me to take throughout my day. And so I hope that's a good exercise that you'll remember as you're spending time with the Lord and His Word. So let's jump in and break down this passage together. I couldn't help but think about the invention of the smartphone. It first came out in 2007. Actually, in 2010 through 2015, that range of years, there was a drastic spike in mental health issues. So 2007, smartphone comes out. Everyone's getting it. And then by 2010, 2015, worldwide anxiety levels go up every single place. There's a researcher named Jonathan Hyde. He wrote a book called The Anxious Generation, very popular book, bestselling, came out a couple years ago. This is what he said. Children born in the late 1990s were the first generation in history who went through puberty in the virtual world. It's as though we sent Gen Z to grow up on Mars when we gave them smartphones in the early 2010s. In the largest uncontrolled experiment, humanity has ever performed on its own children. So I think every one of us, I'm probably the closest here, but every one of us remember a day when there weren't smartphones. I had about six years before the smartphone took over my life. But the culture today is very, very different than the one many, if not all of us experienced growing up. And so what Jonathan Hyde is saying is it's almost like we're sending our children to a different planet, because we weren't meant to be staring at screens all the time. We weren't meant to be anxious all the time. But now children born in 2010, 2015, now 2026, it's like they're growing up on Mars. Our phones have completely changed us. What we once thought was a convenience actually turns out to also be an inconvenience. There are new challenges with new blessings. That's true of anything in history and any season of life. Whenever there's a blessing, there's also new challenges. With the smartphone and internet, we have quick access to news all over the world. There's comparison issues. People are looking at social media, trying to find the perfect body or be as pretty as them. And we spiral into a mood of loneliness as we scroll and doom scroll behind these screens. And that's how widespread anxiety exists today. Now, like I said earlier, anxiety is not a new thing. We didn't come up with that. And then all of a sudden, 2007 on, we're struggling with anxiety. There's nothing new under the sun. That's what Solomon said. There's nothing new under the sun. Jonathan Hyatt is not a Christian, but you don't need to be a Christian to see that this world is anxious. And in the passage we just read, Jesus presents a cure to anxiety. It's the same cure he gave 2000 years ago, and it also applies today. What's the cure? Seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first the kingdom of God. I believe one way the church is gonna shine brightly in this dark world is by carrying with them a peace that surpasses understanding. I believe that's gonna be one of the main ways we evangelize the culture today. It's like a coworker coming up to you going, why aren't you driven crazy by that decision? Or why doesn't this world news shock you? It's like, well, I know God's in control. You know, you were sharing a lot of your story, but you don't seem to be really worried about what's next. And it's like, cause I know Jesus and I know he's got this. I believe as the world is getting more and more anxious, the church is gonna shine brighter with our peace. Okay, so Jesus gives us three reasons why we shouldn't worry before presenting the cure. Three reasons why we shouldn't worry. First of all, life is more than stuff. Life is more than stuff. We can't equate stuff with our purpose for being here on this planet. That doesn't work. And Jesus is saying, you gotta look beyond that if you wanna find your meaning in life. Verses 22 to 23 says, Jesus said to his disciples, therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Just curious, does anyone collect anything or did anyone collect anything as a kid growing up? What'd you collect, Evan? Legos and gaming mice. Gaming, cool. Somebody else, what'd you collect? Damo? Power Rangers. You have all of them? Nice. Who else? What'd you collect, Jesse? Believe it or not, soda bottles. Soda bottles, okay. Becky? Russian Nutrition dolls and Russian plates. Cool, and popcorn? That's great. I loved when restaurants would have these collectibles, like the Happy Meals you get at McDonald's, right? If there was a toy I wanted, I was like, we're going there, not for the food, but because I want the toy, right? And so what Jesus is teaching about not being anxious, he's taking us beyond this mentality of, hey, we love collecting things, we love achieving things, we wanna do well in this life, but you have to look beyond that for real value. Why? Because the things we collect are unpredictable. A fire could destroy everything we've collected our lives. A hurricane can come, and all of a sudden, families' lives and generations are changed. Things in this world are unpredictable, but the kingdom of God is reliable. That's where Jesus is coming from. Before Jesus teaches about this, he brings a story, somebody who has been collecting things on his farmland for a while, and he was doing very well, but he ran into one issue, and I'll read you the story here. This rich farmer thought to himself, what should I do since I don't have anywhere to store my crops? I would do this, he said, I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. It's kinda like when we buy more iCloud storage, right? We just keep, we need more and more storage, right? Then I'll say to myself, you have many goods stored up for many years, take it easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. But God said to him, you fool. This very night, your life is demanded of you. Essentially, you could be gone any second. Why are you storing up these treasures on earth? And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? Who's gonna inherit it? That's how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. The reward for having more stuff is busyness managing it. That's the reward, not fulfillment. So that's why Jesus says, don't be anxious. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Have y'all heard of the phrase, the rat race? Sometimes we live life like it's a rat race. If you're not familiar, the rat race is essentially describing an endless competitive lifestyle. And it's coined from literal rats racing, where they would race through a maze and their reward was a piece of cheese. This is like people who force themselves to work absurdly long hours, they're constantly working towards the next achievement and they're wearing themselves out just to get more work. And all the while they're losing their character, so they're also losing friends. They're just chasing and chasing and chasing, but there's never an end in sight. And it's this busy, anxious lifestyle. The truth is, God satisfies infinitely more than the next thing you're chasing. That includes season of life, that includes the promotion at work, that includes the house you might wanna move into. Those are all, they might be good things and we all want those things, but God can infinitely satisfy.
That's how you write now. We don't want to fall into the trap of more storehouses, more storehouses, when we can have access and contentment in the Lord right now. The missionary C.T. Studd said, only one life till soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. If we're storing up in our storehouses, we don't know what the next day holds. All that stuff is going to be somebody else's. But when we're rich toward God, we go to the treasures we've invested when we pass from this earth, rather than lose them. So work hard, but don't put your identity in your work. If you collect things, don't place your identity in your collection. As a Christian, your identity is in Christ, whom all anxieties have to bow to. And God's finished work in Christ on the cross relieves us of any need to feel any anxiety, because he showed us just how much he loved us. Christ is the end to any need for us to feel anxiety. So at your tables, what is something you place your identity in, maybe more than you should? And how does knowing life is more than that change your perspective? All right, take a few minutes, and we'll keep on going. All right, let's wrap up those conversations. And before we jump into this next point, I want to clarify, even though life is more than stuff, having possessions in this world is not a bad thing. The way I like to think about it is, if you're a good person, if you're a follower of Jesus, I want you to have more things, because you're going to do them for the right reasons. You're going to use them for the right reasons. Bellevue is a big church. We have a large budget, but we use it to serve the city. And so having a lot is not a bad thing. The challenge is when it has your heart. That's when you know your identity is a little bit too much into what you're collecting, whether that's something you can see that's tangible, or something that's just in your mind. Second reason why we shouldn't worry, Jesus says, God cares for the birds and grass. We're not going to spend a long time on this point, because it's pretty straightforward. God cares for the birds and grass. Jesus says, consider the ravens. They don't sow or reap. They don't have a storeroom or a barn. God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds? A few verses later, consider how the wildflowers grow. They don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon, who we talked about last week, in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown to the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you? You have little faith. Any time you see a bird, if you're walking at Shelby Farms or you're sitting on your porch enjoying a nice cup of coffee or tea, and you see a bird, just say, wow, God takes care of them. Surely he's going to take care of me. It's beautiful when you just see a bird and you go, wow, God feeds them too. But Jesus brings up ravens. Why specifically the raven? This actually matters. Ravens aren't known for long-term food planning. So they're not bringing stuff, Jesus says, back to their storehouses. They're not hibernating for winter and storing things. They are meal to meal. They are birds of prey. And Jesus is saying, yeah, God even takes care of them. If God takes care of birds who have no idea where their next meal is going to come from, but they're still flying around, God's surely going to take care of us that much more. And it's how about the grass? Grass is pretty when it's green, but it also dies fairly quickly. It gets mowed very often. It gets carried away by the wind. Grass and flowers don't work for a living, yet God still cares for them. So if God would take care of something so transient and clothe it as beautiful as Solomon was adorned with his riches, then we're worth so much more. That's Jesus's point just fleshed out. Third reason why Jesus says we shouldn't worry, in case you just don't know yet or you're not convinced, it doesn't help. It doesn't help anything. Now, just a clarifying point as you're writing that down, there is a healthy type of concern you probably should have. Like if you're crossing the street, you should be concerned about whether a car is coming or not, concerned for your life. So the type of worry that we're talking about here is one that has your heart, something that is consuming you so much that you can't focus. Your identity is in it. Your character is going down with it. When your heart is in it more than it's in the Lord, that's the type of worry we're talking about here. Verses 25 and 26. Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying? If then you're not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest? So here's an illustration for us. This is just a hypothetical. Is anyone here afraid of flying? You don't have to show yourself. Some people really want to show themselves. So let's say we're all sitting on a plane. We're headed somewhere. Pick any destination you want. The pilots are flying the plane, and the flight attendants are serving the typical complimentary beverages. And you're sitting next to a stranger. Or if you have the dreaded middle seat, you're squished between two strangers. Classic plane experience. Now imagine as the flight goes on, you start to question yourself. Kind of like a kid saying, where are we going? Or why aren't we there yet? Or are we there yet? And in your doubt, you act. You start spreading to your fellow passengers that we're not really going where the ticket says we're going. We're going somewhere else. Like, this is just taking too long. I don't really trust the pilot. Or just to be silly, you start flapping your own arms. And you go, I'm going to go wherever I want. I really don't trust where we're going, right? Silly picture. But what's the catch? The scenario I'm describing is sometimes how we live when we don't trust who's in control. When we're sitting on a plane at that point, you're no longer in control. And maybe you've thought about this. Maybe you haven't. It takes a lot of trust to board a plane and trust some pilots that you don't know to take you where you're going to go. You're 30,000 feet in the air. 12 hours later, you're halfway across the world. You haven't met these pilots. And you're trusting them with your life. You're going where the pilots are taking you. Now, here's the point. Here's why I'm talking about anxiety. When we go through hard times, deep down inside, deep down inside every one of us, we're asking, who's flying this thing? A hurricane just came and hit our country. Who's in control? I just got laid off from my job. Who's flying this thing? Is somebody in control? You guys with me on this? Deep down inside, we're asking these questions. So this plane illustration is just a different way of this. We do this every single day. But this is how we live before the Lord. The truth is, though, even when we don't feel it, God is still in control. We can't always trust our feelings. Feelings are good teachers, bad masters. They're good teachers, bad masters. In turbulent times, someone is flying this thing. When we doubt where we're going, God knows where we're going. When it seems like something is taking too long, when it seems like we're on a detour, that's intentional, too. Maybe, just maybe, God is steering us away from a storm. And here's the encouragement. You and I know the pilot. We know where he's going. We can trust his character. And that's what separates us from the world. We know who's in control. We know who's flying this thing. Even though there's so many things going on in this world, we know that he's in control. Even though my life is turbulent, we know who's in control. Even when you don't feel it, God is still in control. David says, Psalm 139, your eyes saw me when I was formless. All my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. That's the destination. We each have a different destination. God has numbered our days and all of us are still living and breathing, meaning he's not done with our story. The flight is still going and you know the pilot. There's no need to be anxious. The devil likes to plant little thoughts of worry in our mind. And all it takes is a little bit of distrust. And the devil says, yeah, worry about that, worry about that. You're not sure about that. You should worry about that. And God comes in with a gentle whisper, with a voice of love. And he says, I love you. I got this. I'm gonna provide for you. See the birds of the sky? You see the grass of the field? I got you. All right, I'm in control of this. Will you trust me? God knows where your life is headed. And rather than worrying, the Bible says, give all your worries and cares to God for he cares about you. Trust the pilot. He knows where he's going. He puts you here on this earth for a reason. He knows where he's taking you. So at your tables, this is the final discussion questions. Can you think of a time when you worried about something that turned out to not be a big deal? And second, what truth about God encourages you when you worry? Talk about these questions and then we'll finish out the passage. All right, guys, let's wrap up those conversations. Let's round third base here and let's finish out this passage together. So we've heard this.
Before, if you've been around in church, you're familiar with Jesus's teaching, this answer doesn't surprise you. But oftentimes, we just need that extra reminder. We need that reminder every now and then. The cure to anxiety is this, prioritize God's kingdom and let him take care of the rest. That's not something automatic, especially when the Bible says we've all sinned and fallen short of his glory. We have to retrain ourselves, retrain the way that we think, so that this becomes a natural part of who we are. Take this for an example, think of somebody who's further along in life. They typically take two paths, one of two paths. One is they become a cynical, grouchy, complaining person. And the other really receives the perspective of, I'm just grateful to be alive. Right, you know those people. That's just an example of, hey, what we do today matters down the road. And so what kind of person are you becoming? Are you gonna be one that prioritizes God's kingdom or one that's more focused on your own? All right, this is what Jesus says. But seek his kingdom and these things will be provided for you. Don't be afraid, little flock, because your father delights to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. We're gonna talk about that. Make money bags for yourselves that won't grow old. An inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. There will be also. Colossians 3 says, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Where your mind goes, so does your body. In that order. Where your mind goes, so does your body. Where your mind go, so does your feet. Okay, so set your mind on his kingdom and your body will follow suit. The world seeks earthly wealth, but disciples of Jesus seek God. The difference is the object of what we are seeking. Are we seeking riches or are we seeking God and allowing him to provide the rest? One Bible commentator wrote, it is not wrong to own things so long as things do not own us. Again, it's the identity question. Is your heart in it or is your heart towards the Lord and you're letting him take care of that? Jesus says elsewhere, don't store up yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves don't break in and steal. So the question that we need to answer then is how do we store up treasures in heaven? How do we do that? If Jesus says we're supposed to do that, what does that actually look like? Here's one diagnostic question you can ask yourself. How can I glorify God and serve others with what I have? How can I glorify God and serve others with what I have? Not what I don't have. Not what I don't have yet. We're thinking too earthly when we're asking that. We're thinking that way. But with what I have today, how can I glorify God and serve others with what I have? God loves giving his children good gifts, but those gifts aren't supposed to make us anxious. Back to the plane illustration, when you trust the pilot, you can enjoy the ride. When you know the pilot, you know his character, you can sit back and relax. Now, as I was writing this, I thought of some of you. Some of you might be thinking, how can I enjoy the ride? I have bills to pay. How can I enjoy the ride? It's very turbulent right now. How can I enjoy the ride? There was a lot of unexpected things that happened in my life. Here's a powerful verse to remember. These aren't my words, these are Jesus's. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world, but be courageous. I have conquered the world. John 16, 33. In light of the plane illustration, I'm flying this thing. You can trust me. It's turbulent. We've all been in turbulence on airplanes. Somebody's flying the plane and you know who he is. It's God. He's your father. It's gonna be okay. God can meet your needs. That's not a big matter for him. It's a bigger step for you and I to trust him even when we don't see a way. And when we worship him, we say things like he's a way maker. We're saying, God, you're the only one I know who can do something about this. And faith is living that out each day. God is in control. That's how you have peace that surpasses all understanding. Last thing that we need to touch on. Jesus says sell everything, right? Imagine if that's the application for today. Go home and sell everything, right? Ministry-wide yard sale, right? Is that what Jesus is talking about? That's not what he's talking about, okay? The idea of Jesus is saying here is don't be so attached to your possessions. Instead, use your possessions to help other people. That's what he's saying. Again, if you are following Jesus, I want you to have money. I want you to have possessions because I know you're gonna serve people with it. I don't want that in the hands of people who go out and waste it, okay? So possessions aren't bad. It's what you do with them. If it's been a while since you've given, it's a good practice to remind yourself that generosity is both important, but also a calling, a calling to serve others. It's a practical way of saying God has given to me, so I'm gonna give to others. And guys, I don't know how to explain it, but somehow, someway, the money comes back. It might not be dollar for dollar. Some of y'all have experienced this. You guys know what I'm talking about. It might not be dollar for dollar return on investment, okay? But somehow, in some way, if you just open up your eyes, you ask the Lord to open up your eyes, it comes back to you. It might not be money. It might be through a person or an act of kindness from somebody else. Giving is the most practical way of trusting the Lord. In an anxious world, we are called to seek first God's kingdom and allow Him to take care of the rest. That's the cure to anxiety. I wanna end on this. This is the most highlighted verse in the Bible out of any other verse, all right? Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.